Roughly extending from 8 degree north to 38 Degree north latitude and from 68 degree east to 98 degree east longitude the country of India is of great geographical extent and diversities. It sprawls from the snowy ranges of the Himalayas in the north to t

examrobotsa's picture

Submitted by examrobotsa on

Q: 86 (CAPF/2010)
Roughly extending from 8 degree north to 38 Degree north latitude and from 68 degree east to 98 degree east longitude the country of India is of great geographical extent and diversities. It sprawls from the snowy ranges of the Himalayas in the north to the shores of the Indian Ocean in the south through the great plains and plateaus in between. It is about 3200 km in length from north (Kashmir) to south (Kanyakumari) and 2900 km from west (Gujarat) to east (Arunachal Pradesh), its vast ness in area and variation in tropographic character and geological structure result in great diversities in climate, vegetation, soil, cropping pattern, human activities and so on across the country. It is often known as a subcontinent.
Although the extents of latitude and longitude are same, i.e., 30 degree why is Indiaӳ north-south length longer than the east- west length by 300 km ?

question_subject: 

Geography

question_exam: 

CAPF

stats: 

0,27,46,19,27,18,9

keywords: 

{'indiaÓ³ north': [0, 0, 1, 0], 'himalayas': [5, 0, 3, 4], 'indian ocean': [2, 2, 0, 2], 'great geographical extent': [0, 0, 3, 0], 'degree east longitude': [0, 0, 1, 0], 'degree north latitude': [0, 0, 1, 0], 'india': [8, 1, 7, 13], 'longitude': [4, 2, 2, 1], 'west lengths': [0, 0, 1, 0], 'south length': [0, 0, 1, 0], 'kashmir': [3, 1, 2, 2], 'latitude': [2, 0, 0, 4], 'arunachal pradesh': [12, 0, 8, 12], 'west length': [0, 0, 1, 0], 'gujarat': [2, 0, 1, 1], 'plateaus': [1, 0, 0, 0], 'geological structure result': [0, 0, 3, 0], 'climate': [2, 0, 2, 2], 'degree east': [0, 0, 2, 0], 'great plains': [0, 0, 3, 0]}

Option 1 suggests that the alignment of the country is the reason why the north-south length is longer than the east-west length. However, this option does not provide any explanation for why this is the case, so it can be eliminated.

Option 2 states that the north-south length, which is measured along the meridian (great circle), is longer than the east-west length, which is measured along the parallel close to the Tropic of Cancer (small circle). This option provides a clear and logical explanation for the difference in lengths. When measuring along a curved path (meridian), the distance covered is longer compared to measuring along a straight line (parallel). Therefore, the north-south length appears to be longer than the east-west length.

Option 3 argues that the north-south and east-west lengths cannot be compared because they are measured along different lines (meridian vs parallel). While this may be true from a technical standpoint, it does not explain why the north-south length is longer. Therefore, option 3 can be disregarded.

Option 4 suggests that the difference in length is due to variation in scale error along the meridian and parallel. However, this is not a valid explanation for the difference in lengths and can be discarded.

In